The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Trump is seeking huge cuts to basic scientific research
If he gets his way, federal science funding will be slashed by a third for the next fiscal year. (NYT $)
+ The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Senators are getting ready to push back against proposed NASA cuts. (Bloomberg $)
2 Conspiracy theorists are starting to turn on Trump
He whipped them all up over the supposed existence of Epstein’s client list, and now they’re mad nothing’s being released. (The Atlantic $)
3 AI actually slows experienced software developers down
They end up wasting lots of time checking and correcting AI models’ output. (Reuters $)
4 The Pentagon is becoming the largest shareholder in a rare earth minerals company
It shows just how much competition is hotting up to secure a steady supply of these materials. (Quartz $)
+ The race to produce rare earth elements. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Solar power is starting to truly transform the world’s energy system
Globally, roughly a third more power was generated from the sun this spring than last. (New Yorker $)
6 Cops’ favorite AI tool auto-deletes evidence of AI being used
A pretty breathtaking attempt to avoid any sort of audit, transparency or accountability. (Ars Technica)
+ How a new type of AI is helping police skirt facial recognition bans. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Why Chinese EV brands are being forced to go global
Competition at home is becoming so intense that many have no choice but to seek profits elsewhere. (Rest of World)
+ China’s EV giants are betting big on humanoid robots. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Which Big Tech execs are closest to the White House?
Check out this scorecard showing how they’re all doing trying to stay in Trump’s good graces. (WSJ $)
9 Elon Musk says Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles
Yes, that’s the same Grok that keeps being racist. Shareholders must be delighted. (Insider $)
+ X is basically becoming a strip mine for AI training data. (Axios)
10 Trump Mobile is charging people’s credit cards without explanation
But I’m sure it’s all perfectly explicable and above board, right? Right?! (404 Media)
Quote of the day
Recent Comments